Academic literature on the topic 'Nordic film trends'

This article outlines the main developments in Nordic film and television production studies in the 2000s, focusing on recent publications as well as the value of research collaborations, centres and conferences. The article also highlights current trends such as an ongoing interest in creating stronger connections between production and audience studies.

Chris Holmlund and Andrew Nestingen have long been involved with the Journal of Scandinavian Cinema (JSCA) – Chris since 2013, Andy since the journal’s inception in 2010. This article reviews trends in the journal’s first decade and identifies areas where more scholarship would be welcome. JSCA has built a reputation for excellence and is the authoritative publication on cinema and media of the Nordic region. Special Issues, articles on the representation of sexuality and discussions of national cinema constitute valuable contributions. There have been many excellent articles on male auteurs, and several articles on popular cinema. Women auteurs remain underrepresented; more research on television and media and additional studies of race and ethnicity in all media are needed. The authors encourage JSCA and its contributors to continue to build alliances with film studies organizations in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

Background. Female cancers cover common breast cancers, relatively common endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancers and rare vulvar cancer. Survival in these cancers is known to be relatively good compared to all cancers but long-term studies for these cancers are rare, and to fill the gap, here, we generate survival data through 50 years. Materials and Methods. We applied generalized additive models to data from the NORDCAN database and analyzed 1- and 5-year relative survival for these cancers in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over half a century (1971–2020). Conditional 5/1-year survival for patients who survived the 1st year after diagnosis and annual survival changes was also estimated. Results. In 2016–20, 5-year survival was best for breast cancer reaching 92.3% (in SE), followed by endometrial cancer at 86.1% (SE) and cervical cancer at 75.6% (NO). Improvement in 5-year survival over the 50 years was the largest for ovarian cancer (20% units), finally reaching 52.9% (SE). For vulvar cancer, the final survival was between 70 and 73%. The best 5-year survival rate in 2016–20 was recorded for SE in breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers; NO showed the highest rate for cervical and DK for vulvar cancers. DK had the lowest survival for breast and ovarian cancers, and FI, for the other cancers. Conclusions. The overall survival development appeared to consist of continuous improvements, most likely because of novel treatment and imaging techniques as well as overall organization of patient care. The large survival improvement for ovarian cancer was probably achieved by a surgical focus on tumors spread in the peritoneal cavity. For cervical and vulvar cancers, the high early mortality requires attention and could be helped by raising increasing public awareness of early symptoms in these cancers and developing pathways for fast initiation of treatment.

Abstract This article considers links between contemporary Norwegian writer Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Natten drømmer om dagen (2012; The night dreams of the day) and the concept of noir, both in relation to more traditional film noir, to classic hard-boiled crime fiction, and to the recent trend in crime fiction and television known popularly as “Nordic noir”. The author argues that Ambjørnsen reworks key elements of noir aesthetics and thematics, for example relocating the setting from the more typical “urban jungle” to an equally dark and brooding forest landscape. Ambjørnsen simultaneously activates and dismantles tropes associated with both Norwegian identity (nature, the vacation cabin) and with noir (the anti-hero, the femme fatale) to create a complex social critique of late modern Norwegian society.

The Arctic region has long been at the center of world politics and economy. One of the reasons for the transformation of the global fringe into a center of attraction for the economic, geo-ecological and geopolitical interests of foreign countries is the Arctic is undergoing dynamic transformations. In the socio-political and scientific research agenda of the Arctic States, there are acute issues of accumulation and exchange of knowledge about changes taking place in the natural and socio-economic environment of a non-standard region from the point of view of management. The Arctic strategies of the Northern European States seek to fill the vacuum about the trends of environmental changes in the Arctic, the impact of natural transformations on the environment, socio-economic development, population security, and the use of natural resources by indigenous peoples. This task is planned to be solved through the development of research activities of universities located in the Far North and in the Arctic zone of Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, as well as Iceland. The article describes the scientific interests of the Northern European States in the Arctic. Using analytical and comparative methods, the goal is achieved — to characterize universities as one of the parts of their scientific and educational space in the Nordic countries. An attempt is made to answer the question: how does educational and research activities contribute to the implementation of state program documents for the development of natural resources in the Arctic and the use of its spaces? The further direction of scientific research may be to compare the educational and research activities of universities in Northern Europe and universities in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

Empirical studies proved that good corporate governance had a positive link to the success of an organization. Good in directing and managing organizational processes, structures, and information mean satisfaction guaranteed was given to all stakeholders. Essential factor like working atmosphere may be considered when looking into corporate governance as well as organizational success. However, limited literature focused on the importance of communication climate and its connection to corporate governance and organizational success. Hence, this study looked into the predicting effect of communication climate to perceived corporate governance and organizational success. A total of ninety-eight rank and file employees voluntarily participated in accomplishing three questionnaires such as the Communication Climate Inventory by Costigen & Schiedler; Corporate Governance Survey adapted from Wickramanayake’s Seven Characteristics of Corporate Governance; and Organizational Success Survey adapted from Ilyas & Rafig used to measure communication climate, corporate governance, and organizational success respectively. Results revealed that communication climate was a predictor of perceived corporate governance and organizational success. This implied that the role of supervisors in setting work conditions was essential on how rank and file employees perceived corporate governance and organizational success.ReferencesAbdu Rashid, M., Azman bin Othman, M., Zainudin bin Othman, M., Ain bt Arshad, F. (2015). The influence of work environment on employees job performance: a case study of Administrative staff in a manufacturing industry. 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IntroductionNordic mythology, also known as Norse mythology, is a term used to describe Medieval creation myths and tales of Gods and otherworldly realms, told and retold by Northern Germanic and Scandinavian tribes of the ninth century AD (see for example Gaiman).I discuss a new type of Nordic mythology that is being created through popular culture, social media, books, and television shows. I am interested in how contemporary portrayals of the Nordic countries has created a kind of mythological place called Scandinavia, where things, people, and ideas are better than in other places.Whereas the old myths portray a fierce warrior race, the new myths create a utopian Scandinavia as a place that is inherently good; a place that is progressive and harmonious. In the creation of these new myths the underbelly of the North is often neglected, producing a homogenised representation of a group of countries that are in actuality diverse and inevitably imperfect.ScandimaniaGenerally the term Scandinavia always refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. When including Finland and Iceland, it is more accurate to refer to the five as the Nordic countries. I was born and grew up in Denmark. My observations are skewed towards a focus on Denmark, rather than Scandinavia as a whole. Though I will use the term Nordic and Scandinavia throughout the article, it is worth noting that these definitions describe a group of countries that despite some commonalities are also quite different in geography, and culture.Whether we are speaking strictly of Scandinavia or of the Nordic countries as a whole, one thing is certain: in recent years there has been a surge of popularity in all things Nordic. Scandinavian design has been popular since the 1950s, known for its functionality and simplistic beauty, and globalised through the Swedish furniture chain IKEA. Consequently, Nordic interior design has become a style widely praised and emulated, as has Nordic fashion, architecture, and innovation.The fact that Scandinavian people are often represented as being intelligent and beautiful adds to the notion of stylish and aesthetically pleasing ideals. This is partly why sperm from Danish sperm donors is the most sought after and widely distributed in the world: perhaps prospective parents find the idea of having a baby of Viking stock appealing (Kale). Nordic countries are also known for their egalitarian societies, which are described as “the holy grail of a healthy economy and society” (Cleary). These are countries where the collective good is cherished. Tax rates are high (in Denmark between 55 per cent and 60 per cent of income), which leads to excellent welfare systems.In recent years other terms have entered the collective Western vocabulary. New Nordic Cuisine describes a trend that has taken the culinary world by storm. This term refers to food that is created with seasonal, local, and foraged ingredients. The emphasis being a renewed connection to nature and old ways. In 2016 the Danish word hygge was shortlisted by the Oxford Dictionary as word of the year. A word, which has no direct English translation, it means “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)”. Countless books were published in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, explaining the art of hygge. Other Scandinavian words are now becoming popular, such as the Swedish lagom, meaning “just enough”.In the past two years, the United Nations’ World Happiness Report listed Denmark and Norway as the happiest places on earth. Other surveys similarly put the Nordic countries on top as the most prosperous places on earth (Anderson).Mythologies and Discursive FormationsThe standard definition of myth is a “traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.” Or “A widely held but false belief or idea” (Oxford Dictionaries, Myth).During what became known as the “discursive turn”, both Barthes and Foucault expanded the conception of myth by placing it within a wider socio-political and historical contexts of power and truth. “Discursive formations” became a commonly accepted way of describing a cluster of ideas, images, and practices that define particular “truths” within a given cultural context (Hall 6). In other words, myths serve specific purposes within given socio-cultural constructions.I argue that the current idolisation of Scandinavia is creating a common global narrative of a superior society. A mythical place that has “figured it out”, and found the key to happiness. The mythologised North is based on an array of media stories, statistics, reports, articles, advertising, political rhetoric, books, films, TV series, exhibitions, and social media activity. These perpetuate a “truth” of the Nordic countries as being especially benign, cultured, and distinguished. The Smiling PolicemanIn his well-known essay Myth Today, Barthes analyses an image of a North African boy in uniform saluting the French flag on the front cover of a magazine. Barthes argues that by analysing the semiotic meaning of the image in two stages, one can identify the “myth”.The first level is the signifiers (what we see), a dark skinned boy, a uniform, a raised arm, a flag. The signified is our recognition of these as a North African boy raising his arm to the French flag. The second level of interpretation is the wider context in which we understand what we see: the greatness of France is signified in the depiction of one of her colonial subjects submitting to and glorifying the flag. That is to say, the myth generated by the image is the story of France as a great colonial and military nation.Now take a look at this image, which was distributed the world over in newspapers, online media, and in turn social media (Warren; Kolff). This image is interesting because it epitomises much of what is believed about Scandinavia (the new myths). If we approach the image through the semiotic lens of Barthes, we firstly describe what is seen in the picture (signifiers): a blonde policeman, a girl of dark complexion, a road in the countryside, a van in the distance, and some other people with backpacks on the side of the road. When we put these elements together in context, we understand that the image to be depicting a Danish policeman, blonde, smiling and handsome, playing with a Syrian refugee girl on an empty Danish highway, with her fellow refugees behind her.The second level of interpretation (the myth) is created by combining the elements into a story: A friendly police officer is playing with a refugee girl, which is unusual because policemen are commonly seen as authoritarian and unfriendly to illegal immigrants. This policeman is smiling. He is happy in his job. He is healthy, good-looking, and compassionate.This fits the image of Scandinavian men as good fathers (they have paternity leave, and often help equally with child rearing). The image confirms that the happiest people on earth would of course also have happy, friendly policemen. The belief that the Scandinavian social model is one to admire would appear to be endorsed.The fact that this is in a rural setting with green landscapes adds further to the notion of Nordic freshness, naturalness, environmentalism, and food that comes from the wild. The fact that the policeman is well-groomed, stylish, well-built, and handsome reinforces the notion that Scandinavia is a place of style and taste, where the good Viking gene pool produces fit and beautiful people.It makes sense that in a place with a focus on togetherness and the common good, refugees are also treated well. Just as the French image of a dark-skinned boy saluting the French flag sent out messages of French superiority, this image sends out messages of inherent Nordic goodness in a time where positive images of the European refugee crisis are few and far between.In a discursive discussion, one asks not only what meanings does this image convey, but why is this image chosen, distributed, shared, tweeted, and promoted over other images? What purpose does its proliferation serve? What is the historical context in which it is popularised? What is the cultural imagination/narrative that is served? In the current often depressing socio-political situation in Europe, people like to know that there is a place where compassion and play exists.Among other news stories of death, despair, and border protection, depictions of an idealised North can help calm anxieties by implying the existence of a place that is free of conflict. Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen writes:The flood of journalistic and popular ethnographic explorations of the Nordic region in the UK is an expression, perhaps, of a search for a lost sense of identity, a nostalgic longing for an imagined past society more in tune with pre-Thatcherite welfarist values, by way of consuming, appropriating and exoticising proximate cultural identities such as the now much hyped Danish or Nordic utopias. (Nordic Noir, 6)In The Almost Nearly Perfect People, British writer Michael Booth wonders: “one thing in particular about this new-found love of all things Scandinavian … which struck me as particularly odd: considering all this positive PR, and with awareness of the so-called Nordic miracle at an all-time high, why wasn’t everyone flocking to live here [in Denmark]?” (7).In actuality not many people in the West are interested in living in the Nordic countries. Rather, as Barbara Goodwin writes: “utopias hold up a mirror to the fears and aspirations of the time in which they were written” (2). In other words, in an age of anxiety, where traditional norms and stabilities are shifting, to believe that there is a place where contemporary societies have found a way of living in happiness and togetherness provides a sense of hope. People are not flocking to live in Scandinavia because it is not in their interests to have their utopian ideals shattered by the reality that, though the North has a lot to offer, it is inevitably not a utopia (Sougaard-Nielsen, The Truth Is).UnderbellyParadoxically, in recent years, Scandinavia has become well known for its “Nordic Noir” crime fiction and television. In the documentary TV series Scandimania, British TV personality Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall travels through Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, exploring the culture, scenery, and food. He finds it curious that Denmark has become so famous for its sombre crime series, such as The Killing and The Bridge, because it seems so far removed from the Denmark he experiences riding around the streets of Copenhagen on his bike.Fearnley-Whittingstall ponders that one has to look hard to find the dark side of Denmark, and that perhaps it does not actually exist at all. This observation points to something essential. Even though millions of viewers worldwide have seen shows such as The Killing, which are known for their dark story lines, bleak urban settings, complex but realistic characters, progressive gender equality, and social commentary, the positive mythologising of Scandinavia remains so strong that it engenders a belief that the underbelly shown in Nordic Noir is perhaps entirely fictional.Stougaard-Nielsen (see also Pitcher, Consuming Race) argues that perhaps the British obsession with Nordic Noir (and this could be applied to other western countries) can be attributed to “a more appropriate white cosmopolitan desire to imagine rooted identities in an age of globalisation steeped in complex identity politics” (Nordic Noir, 8). That is to say that, for a segment of society which feels overwhelmed by contemporary multiculturalism, there may be a pleasure in watching a show that is predominantly populated by white Nordic protagonists, where the homes and people are stylish, and where the Nordic model of welfare and progressive thinking provides a rich identity source for white people as a symbolic point of origin.The watching/reading of Nordic Noir, as well as other preoccupations with all things Nordic, help build upon a mythological sense of whiteness that sets itself apart from our usual notions of race politics, by being an accepted form of longing for the North of bygone ages: a place that is progressive, moral, stylish, and imbued with aspirational ways of living, thinking, and being (Pitcher, Racial Politics).The image of the Danish police officer and the refugee girl fits this ideal of a progressive society where race relations are uncomplicated. The policeman who epitomises the Nordic ideal is in a position of power, but this is an authority which is benevolent. The girl is non-threatening in her otherness, because she is a child and female, and therefore does not fit the culturally dreaded Muslim/terrorist stereotype. In this constellation the two can meet beautifully.The reality, of course, is that the race relations and issues surrounding immigration in Denmark, and in other Nordic countries, are as complicated and often messy and hateful as they are in other countries. In Sweden, as Fearnley-Whittingstall touches upon in Scandimania, there are escalating problems with integration of the many new Swedes and growing inequalities in wealth. In Norway, the underlying race tensions became acutely topical in the aftermath of the 2011 massacre, where right-wing extremist Anders Breivik killed 77 people. Denmark has one of the harshest anti-immigration laws in Europe, laws that are continuously being tightened (Boserup); and whenever visiting Denmark I have been surprised to see how much space and time discussions about immigration and integration take up in the news and current affairs.If we contrast the previous image with the image above, taken within a similar timeframe on the same Danish highway, we can see the reality of Danish immigration policies. Here we are exposed to a different story. The scene and the location is the same, but the power dynamics have shifted from benign, peaceful, and playful to aggressive, authoritarian, and conflict ridden. A desperate father carries his daughter, determined to march on towards their destination of Sweden. The policeman is pulling his arm, attempting to detain the refugees so that they cannot go further, the goal being to deport the Syrians back to their previous place of detention, just over the border in Germany (Harticollis). While the previous image reflects the humanity of the refugee crisis, this image reflects the politics, policies, and to a large extent public opinion in Denmark, which is not refugee-friendly. This image, however, was not widely distributed, partly because it feeds into the same depressing narrative of an unsolvable refugee crisis seen so often elsewhere, and partly because it does not fit into the narrative of the infallible North. It could not be tweeted with the hashtag #Humanity, nor shared on Facebook with a smiley face and liked with an emoji heart.Another image from Denmark, in the form of a politically funded billboard, shows that there are deep-seated tendencies within Danish society that want to promote and retain a Denmark which adheres to its traditional values and ethnic whiteness. The image was displayed all over the country, at train stations, bus stops, and other public spaces when I visited in 2016. It was issued by Dansk Folkeparti (the Danish People’s Party); a party which is anti-immigration and which was until recently the country’s second largest party. The title says “Our Denmark”, while the byline cleverly plays with the double meaning of passe på: it can mean “there is so much we need to take care of”, but also “there is so much we need to beware of.” In other words, the white working-class family needs to take care of their Denmark, and beware of anyone who does not fit into this norm. Though hugely contested and criticised (Cremer; see a counter-reaction designed by opponents below), the fact that thinly veiled anti-immigration propaganda can be so readily distributed speaks of an underbelly in Danish society that is not made of the dark murder mysteries in The Killing, but rather of a quietly brewing distain for the foreigner that reigns within stylishly designed living rooms. ConclusionMyths are stories cultures tell and retell until they form a belief system that becomes a natural part of our collective narrative. For Barthes, these stories were intrinsically connected to our understanding of language and our ability to read images, films, artifacts, and popular culture more generally. To later cultural theorists, the notion of discursive formations expands this understanding, to see myth within a broader network of socio-political discourses placed within a certain place and time in history. When connected, small narratives (images, advertising, film, music, news stories, social media sharing, scientific evidence, etc.) come together to form a common narrative (the myth) about how things are and should be in relation to a particular topic. The culminating popularity of numerous Nordic themes (Nordic television/film, interior design, fashion, cuisine, architecture, lifestyle, sustainability, welfare system, school system, gender equality, etc.) has created a grand narrative of the Nordic countries as a type of utopia: one that shows the rest of the world that an egalitarian society of togetherness and progressive innovation is possible. This mythologisation serves to quell anxieties about the flux and uncertainty of contemporary times, and may also serve to legitimise a yearning for a simple, benign, and progressive whiteness, where we imagine Nordic families sitting peacefully at their beechwood dining tables, candles lit, playing board games. 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Sveriges Television and DR, 2013-present.Cleary, Paul. “Norway Is Proof That You Can Have It All.” The Australian, 15 July 2013. <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/norway-is-proof-that-you-can-have-it-all/news-story/3d2895adbace87431410e7b033ec84bf>.Colson, Thomas. “7 Reasons Denmark Is the Happiest Country in the World.” The Independent, 26 Sep. 2016. <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/7-reasons-denmark-is-the-happiest-country-in-the-world-a7331146.html>.Cremer, Justin. “The Strangest Political Story in Denmark Just Got Stranger.” The Local, 19 May 2016. <https://www.thelocal.dk/20160519/strangest-political-story-in-denmark-just-got-stranger>.Dregni, Eric. “Why Is Norway the Happiest Place on Earth?” Star Tribune, 11 June 2017. <http://www.startribune.com/the-height-of-happy/427321393/#1>.Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: The Will to Knowledge. London: Penguin Books, 1998 [1976]. Gaiman, Neil. “Neil Gaiman Retells Classic Norse Mythology.” Conversations. 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DR, 2007-2012.Kolff, Louise. “Part III: The Hunk & the Refugee.” Perspectra, 3 Dec. 2015. <https://perspectra.org/2015/12/03/danish-police-and-refugee-girl/>.Oxford Dictionaries. “Hygge.” <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hygge>.Oxford Dictionaries. “Myth.” <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/myth>.Pitcher, Ben. Consuming Race. London: Routledge, 2014.———. “The Racial Politics of Nordic Noir.” Mecetes, 9 April 2014. <http://mecetes.co.uk/racial-politics-nordic-noir/>.Scandimania. Featuring H. Fearnley-Whittingstall. Channel 4, 2014.Sougaard-Nielsen, Jacob. “Nordic Noir in the UK: The Allure of Accessible Difference.” Journal of Aesthetics & Culture 8.1 (2016). 1 Oct. 2017 <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/jac.v8.32704>.———. “The Truth Is, Scandinavia Is Neither Heaven nor Hell.” The Conversation, 19 Aug. 2014. <https://theconversation.com/the-truth-is-scandinavia-is-neither-heaven-nor-hell-30641>.Warren, Rossalyn. “The Touching Moment a Policeman Sat Down to Play with a Syrian Refugee.” BuzzFeed News, 15 Sep. 2015. <https://www.buzzfeed.com/rossalynwarren/the-adorable-moment-a-policeman-sat-down-to-play-with-a-syri?utm_term=.qjzl2WEk7#.kgZXOp76M>.

Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is a widely approved logic for financing services, using innovative care models and evaluating healthcare outcomes. It is consistent with the Triple Aim framework of simultaneously improving population health, patient experience and the costs of care. In Nordic countries, VBHC has been mainly implemented as a strategic concept in developing hospitals. Despite the evident interest in VBHC as a management trend in healthcare organisations, the studies concerning the implications of VBHC logics on health policies have been scant. This study aimed to fill this gap by building a conceptual bridge between national health policy and value-based care. Through the Triple Aim framework, we explored how VBHC goals have evolved in Finnish Government Programmes from 1995 to 2015 by using qualitative document analysis and interviews. The study addresses the evolution and national impacts of VBHC. Our results show that the goals of Triple Aim gradually become evident at the Finnish health policies. All three Triple Aim goals were present, though the equal prioritisation of these goals only emerged in 2015, also highlighting patient experience. We argue that VBHC logics have indeed affected Nordic welfare policies, not only at the organisational level but also concerning performance measurement and care delivery. This may imply that the diffusion of VBHC logics evolves from healthcare organisations to policymaking instead of top-down. Particularly in publicly financed systems, VBHC indicates a transformation to a new public governance ideology, accelerating policy goals that promote customer responsiveness and value creation for citizens.

Pornography is a fictional media genre that depicts sexual fantasies and explicitly presents naked bodies and sexual activities for the purpose of sexual arousal (Williams, 1989; McKee et al., 2020). Regarding media ethics and media effects, pornography has traditionally been viewed as highly problematic. Pornographic material has been accused of portraying sexuality in unhealthy, morally questionable and often sexist ways, thereby harming performers, audiences, and society at large. In the age of the Internet, pornography has become more diverse, accessible, and widespread than ever (Döring, 2009; Miller et al., 2020). Consequently, the depiction of sexuality in pornography is the focus of a growing number of content analyses of both mass media (e.g., erotic and pornographic novels and movies) and social media (e.g., erotic and pornographic stories, photos and videos shared via online platforms). Typically, pornography’s portrayals of sexuality are examined by measuring the prevalence and frequency of sexual practices or relational dynamics and related gender roles via quantitative content analysis (for research reviews see Carrotte et al., 2020; Miller & McBain, 2022). This entry focuses on the representation of safer sex practices as one of eight important dimensions of the portrayals of sexuality in pornography. Field of application/theoretical foundation: In the field of pornographic media content research, different theories are used, mainly 1) general media effects theories, 2) sexual media effects theories, 3) gender role, feminist and queer theories, 4) sexual fantasy and desire theories, and different 5) mold theories versus mirror theories. The DOCA entry “Conceptual Overview (Portrayals of Sexuality in Pornography)” introduces all these theories and explains their application to pornography. The respective theories are applicable to the analysis of the depiction of safer sex practices as one dimension of the portrayals of sexuality in pornography. References/combination with other methods of data collection: Manual quantitative content analyses of pornographic material can be combined with qualitative (e.g., Keft-Kennedy, 2008) as well as computational (e.g., Seehuus et al., 2019) content analyses. Furthermore, content analyses can be complemented with qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to investigate perceptions and evaluations of the portrayals of sexuality in pornography among pornography’s creators and performers (e.g., West, 2019) and audiences (e.g., Cowan & Dunn, 1994; Hardy et al., 2022; Paasoonen, 2021; Shor, 2022). Additionally, experimental studies are helpful to measure directly how different dimensions of pornographic portrayals of sexuality are perceived and evaluated by recipients, and if and how these portrayals can affect audiences’ sexuality-related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (e.g., Kohut & Fisher, 2013; Miller et al., 2019). Example studies for manual quantitative content analyses: A common research hypothesis states that pornography displays sexuality – and even high-risk sex acts, such as penetrative sex – predominately without condoms. To test such hypotheses and code pornographic material accordingly, it is necessary to clarify the concept of “safer sex” and use valid and reliable measures for different types of safer sex practices. It is important to note that safer sex practices could be assessed at the sexual encounter level (e.g., Is a condom used during the sexual encounter?) or at the level of specific sexual acts (e.g., Is a condom used during anal sex?). It is also possible that a scene depicts a condom being used, but only for the purpose of it being removed (e.g., to highlight the unrestricted nature of the sex being shown or as part of an impregnation roleplay). Given that such scenarios would depict condom use while simultaneously presenting sex with a condom as being less pleasurable, researchers may need to consider these contextual factors when developing their coding schemes. In gay male pornography “barebacking” (deliberately forgoing condom use during anal sex) is its own sub-genre (Tollini, 2019), thus there is a possibility for indirect coding based on meta-information about whether material sits within this sub-genre. Coding Material Measure Operationalization (excerpt) Reliability Source Safer Sex Practices: Condom use during penetrative sex with a penis provides a high degree of protection against pregnancies and several types of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) including HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). While condom use is recommended for private sexual encounters (and demanded by some legislatures for porn performers), condoms can increase pain, risk of injury and risk of STI/HIV transmission among performers (particularly those engaging in receptive penetrative practices) because professional performances are typically much longer and more demanding than the average private sexual encounters. For this reason, some porn performers have challenged the idea that legal obligations for condom use on set effectively protect them (Shachner, 2015). Alternative protection measures are often preferred by professional performers (e.g., long acting contraception methods, regular STI/HIV testing, HIV-Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). The availability of HIV-Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis has resulted in a trend toward condomless anal sex (“barebacking”) in gay male pornography (Tollini, 2019). Apart from issues of performer health protection, safer sex practices in pornography are also regarded as relevant in terms of modelling behaviors for audiences. N=50 scenes from 50 best-selling heterosexual adult films (1 scene per film) and N=50 scenes from 50 bestselling male homosexual films (1 scene per film) Condom use - Condom use during penile-oral contact (type of condom use) Penile-oral contact is shown and a condom is used at least some of the time during this act. Binary coding (1: yes; 2: no). Cohen’s Kappa across all four variables: .78 Grudzen et al. (2009) - Condom use during penile-vaginal contact (type of condom use) Penile-vaginal contact is shown and a condom is used at least some of the time during this act. Binary coding (1: yes; 2: no). - Condom use during penile-anal contact (type of condom use) Penile-anal contact is shown and a condom is used at least some of the time during this act. Binary coding (1: yes; 2: no). - Condom use during anal-to-oral penile insertion Anal-to-oral penile insertion (penile-oral insertion immediately following penile-anal insertion) is shown and a condom is used at least some of the time during this act. Binary coding (1: yes; 2: no). Apart from condom use, further safer sex practices can be measured (e.g., visible use of lube to prevent pain or injuries during penetrative sex; observable communication between characters about sexual health status, STI testing, or use of contraception). References Carrotte, E. R., Davis, A. C., & Lim, M. S. (2020). Sexual behaviors and violence in pornography: Systematic review and narrative synthesis of video content analyses. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(5), Article e16702. https://doi.org/10.2196/16702 Cowan, G., & Dunn, K. F. (1994). What themes in pornography lead to perceptions of the degradation of women? Journal of Sex Research, 31(1), 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499409551726 Döring, N. (2009). The Internet’s impact on sexuality: A critical review of 15 years of research. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(5), 1089–1101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.04.003 Grudzen, C. R., Elliott, M. N., Kerndt, P. R., Schuster, M. A., Brook, R. H., & Gelberg, L. (2009). Condom use and high-risk sexual acts in adult films: A comparison of heterosexual and homosexual films. American Journal of Public Health, 99(S1), S152-156. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.127035 Hardy, J., Kukkonen, T., & Milhausen, R. (2022). Examining sexually explicit material use in adults over the age of 65 years. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 31(1), 117–129. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2021-0047 Keft-Kennedy, V. (2008). Fantasising masculinity in Buffyverse slash fiction: Sexuality, violence, and the vampire. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 7(1), 49–80. Kohut, T., & Fisher, W. A. (2013). The impact of brief exposure to sexually explicit video clips on partnered female clitoral self-stimulation, orgasm and sexual satisfaction. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 22(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.935 McKee, A., Byron, P., Litsou, K., & Ingham, R. (2020). An interdisciplinary definition of pornography: Results from a global Delphi panel. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(3), 1085–1091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01554-4 Miller, D. J., & McBain, K. A. (2022). The content of contemporary, mainstream pornography: A literature review of content analytic studies. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 17(2), 219–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2021.2019648 Miller, D. J., McBain, K. A., & Raggatt, P. T. F. (2019). An experimental investigation into pornography’s effect on men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(4), 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000202 Miller, D. J., Raggatt, P. T. F., & McBain, K. (2020). A literature review of studies into the prevalence and frequency of men’s pornography use. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 15(4), 502–529. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2020.1831676 Paasonen, S. (2021). “We watch porn for the fucking, not for romantic tiptoeing”: Extremity, fantasy and women’s porn use. Porn Studies, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2021.1956366 Shachner, J. (2015). Unwrapped: How the Los Angeles County Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act's condom mandate hurts performers & violates the First Amendment. Health Matrix: The Journal of Law Medicine, 24(1), 345–375. Seehuus, M., Stanton, A. M., & Handy, A. B. (2019). On the content of "real-world" sexual fantasy: Results from an analysis of 250,000+ anonymous text-based erotic fantasies. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(3), 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1334-0 Shor, E. (2022). Who seeks aggression in pornography? Findings from interviews with viewers. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(2), 1237–1255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02053-1 Tollini, C. (2019). How two holdouts went bareback: CockyBoys and Men. com's initial transition to producing videos without condoms. Porn Studies, 6(3), 282-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2019.1602958 West, C. (2019). Pornography and ethics: An interview with porn performer Blath. Porn Studies, 6(2), 264–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2018.1505540 Williams, L. (1989). Hard Core: Power, pleasure, and the frenzy of the visible. University of California Press.

Cette thèse explore les changements esthétiques et culturels résultant de la numérisation du secteur cinématographique suédois. En « pensant avec le post-cinéma suédois », la recherche s'appuie sur trois axes méthodologiques: une analyse des changements ontologiques du cinéma suédois à l'ère numérique, des entretiens postqualitatifs avec les acteurs de l'industrie et une étude documentaire sur les transformations du secteur. La thèse se divise en trois chapitres, abordant la production (2000-2008), la dissémination (2009-2017) et leurs conséquences (2018-2023) sur le cinéma et l'imaginaire suédois. Elle met en évidence la dissolution du cinéma suédois, antérieure à l'épisode viral de la covid-19. Cette recherche suggère que le cinéma suédois pourrait être revitalisé en tant que pratique culturelle grâce à une réforme de la politique culturelle. Elle encourage également davantage de recherches universitaires sur les effets de la numérisation sur les identités culturelles nationales et régionales, contribuant ainsi à réévaluer le rôle du cinéma et des images animées dans les représentations culturelles des petites nations
This PhD thesis explores the aesthetic and cultural changes resulting from the digitisation of the Swedish film industry. By 'thinking with Swedish post-cinema', the research is based on three methodological axes: an analysis of the ontological changes in Swedish cinema in the digital era, post-qualitative interviews with industry players and a documentary study of the transformations in the sector. This thesis is divided into three chapters, dealing with production (2000-2008), dissemination (2009-2017) and their consequences (2018-2023) on Swedish cinema and imagination. This highlights the dissolution of Swedish cinema before the covid-19 health crisis. This research suggests that Swedish cinema could be revitalised as a cultural practice through cultural policy reforms. It also encourages more academic research into the effects of digitisation on national and regional identities, helping to reassess the role of films and moving images in the cultural representations of small nations

The issues surrounding sustainability continues to be at the forefront of the human agenda and firms are increasingly being held accountable by their stakeholders to assist in bringing about sustainability. Despite this, there is a tension surrounding the role of firms and the benefits implementing sustainability practices and policies has for these actors. On the one hand, being sustainable underpinned by a strong CSR-oriented governance board with the right compositional factors results in superior firm performance. On the other hand, sustainability is suggested to increase costs and reduced competitiveness thereby reducing firm performance. These contrasting results supported by mixed scholarly findings concerning different mediating factors influencing the overarching relationship creates a confusion gap that warrants this current study. As such, the study’s purpose is to investigate the relationship between two distinct yet interrelated relationships, the impact of board of directors’ composition on CSR performance measured by ESG scores and the impact of CSR performance on firm performance so as to contribute to the debate on these notion that continues to plague academia and the pragmatic world. This study is realized through a quantitative archival-longitudinal study design underpinned by metaphysical assumptions. Regression analyses using panel data on a sample of 123 listed companies headquartered in the Nordic Countries for the period 2010-2018 is undertaken to analyze the potential relation between CSR performance and five board composition factors, specially the gender diversity, independence, size, frequency of meetings and the presence of CSR committee. The association between CSR performance and firm performance is investigated in a similar way. Under rigorous statistical testing and analysis, the results indicate that there potentially is a relation between board composition and firms’ ESG performance. The results derived from the relationship between CSR and firm performance is inconsistent and cannot be fully accepted. This study contributes theoretically to CSR, corporate governance and finance literature by expanding upon how these three notions are linked in light of the sustainability trend that is gripping modern society. Socially, this research is useful for providing empirical evidence on the value of strong governance structures so as to foster sustainability and encourage debate on its value. Pragmatically, our study suggests what board composition factors are most conducive for supporting CSR that may assist firms’ corporate governance structuring and focus.

Nordic Genre Film offers a transnational approach to studying contemporary genre production in Nordic cinema. It discusses a range of internationally renowned examples, from Nordic noir such as the television show The Bridge and films like Insomnia (1997) to high concept ‘video generation’ productions such as Iron Sky (2012). Yet, genre, at least in this context, indicates both a complex strategy for domestic and international competition as well as an analytical means to identify the Nordic film cultures’ relationships to international trends. Conceptualizing Nordic genre film as an industrial and cultural phenomenon, other contributions focus on road movies, the horror film, autobiographical films, the quirky comedy, musicals, historical epics and pornography. These are contextualized by discussion of their place in their respective national film and media histories as well as their influence on other Nordic countries and beyond. By highlighting similarities and differences between the countries, as well as the often diverse production modes of each country, as well as the connections that have historically existed, the book works at the intersections of film and cultural studies and combines industrial perspectives and in depth discussion of specific films, while also offering historical perspectives on each genre as it comes to production, distribution and reception of popular contemporary genre film.

The contribution of Denmark to world cinema has been substantial: not just relative to the size of the population, but by any measure. In the silent period, the pioneering work of the company Nordisk Films Kompagni, and the emergence of early film stars such as Asta Nielsen, secured Denmark a place as a leading film nation. The auteur Carl Theodor Dreyer won global renown during his five-decade career. Documentary and educational filmmaking flourished after the Second World War; the late 1980s brought successive Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film; and Dogme 95 aimed to reinvigorate cinema by stripping filmmaking back to basics. The notoriety of arthouse auteur Lars von Trier has been complemented by the emergence of a generation of Danish filmmakers whose work is characterised by compelling stories, high production values and a strong sense of realism. This book covers all these aspects of Danish cinema history, and also encompasses a range of genres, figures and institutions that have received little coverage in English to date, such as children’s films, popular comedies, immigrant filmmakers, women documentarists, and Greenlandic cinema. The contributors situate filmmakers, genres and trends in their cultural and historical context, taking account of the influence of national film institutions and policies. The volume is organised into four parts: i) From the first ‘Golden Age’ to the Occupation; ii) National Genres; iii) Auteurs and Institutions of the New Golden Age; and iv) Decentring and Diversifying Danish Cinema.

Palme and Pääministeri can be considered exceptional films in their respective national contexts. Politics and public figures have not been a typical subject for contemporary feature films in Sweden or in Finland, although similar topics have thrived in Anglo-American media culture. Films like The Deal (UK, 2003), Looking for Fidel (USA, Brazil, 2004), The Queen (UK, France, Italy, 2006) and Margaret (UK, 2009) have depicted the political past and present by portraying the experiences or actions of known politicians in different generic modes, such as documentary dramas, documentaries and fictional biographical films. The film Palme differentiates itself in the Swedish context with its extremely controversial main character and sensitive topic. In Finland, as well, politicians have rarely been depicted in recent years. The documentary drama Pääministeri exemplifies such Finnish films. Although the docudramatic mode was not unprecedented in Finland, Pääministeri exemplified a new, international trend in television production by depicting a dramatised account of a living person and a relatively recent political incident.

This chapter examines Nordic documentary directors who have followed a cosmopolitan and global trend in filmmaking, both in their strategies of co-production and in the engagement with global realities abroad and at home. One of the most prolific is the American-British-Danish Joshua Oppenheimer whose two films The Act of Killing (2007) and The Look of Silence (2014) has had an incredibly strong international impact. Thematically and aesthetically they have challenged existing forms and manage to raise the global awareness of the almost forgotten Indonesian Holocaust. But also as a production case the films are very interesting. Oppenheimer’s primary production company is the internationally very prolific Final Cut For Real, but this company is co-producing with both Scandinavian, British and US companies, and the funding comes from an impressive list of PSB TV stations in Scandinavia, Europe, from Film Institutes and from various transnational and European funding bodies and NGOs. This chapter, based on interviews with Oppenheimer and his key production partners and articles, analyses his films as transnational co-productions.

Abstract In Swedish film history, it is customary to describe the production practice emerging from 1916/1917 onward, and geared toward quality cinema, as resulting in a “golden age,” with flagship productions characterized by natural scenery, psychological interest, and a weighty sense of literariness. Around 1920, this production trend inscribed itself into various realms of Sweden’s contemporary culture, in particular interacting with a burgeoning contemporary print culture in the form of posters, souvenir booklets, and book editions with film stills. The Swedish style soon spread to other Nordic countries and was endorsed by Carl Th. Dreyer, whose films from the early 1920s partake in a trans-Scandinavian practice informed by the quality concept formed in Swedish cinema. The article explores trans-Scandinavian aspects of this era, framing them in terms of nature and location, tied to the notion of authenticity.

This chapter surveys selective twenty-first century serial killer narratives and outlines their most significant recurrent themes and tropes. The most notable twenty-first century trend considered here are the depiction of the serial killer as a sympathetic anti-hero, as in Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter novels and the TV series of the same name, the TV series Bates Motel (2013–) and the YA novel/film I Am Not a Serial Killer (2009/2016), all of which depict disturbed teenagers struggling to repress their seemingly innate bloodlust, and the pre-eminent serial killer TV show of the past decade, Hannibal (2013–15). This chapter also defines the popularity of serial killer narratives as a truly global phenomenon by examining ‘Nordic Noir’, the Korean films Memories of Murder (2003) and I Saw the Devil (2010) and the Hong Kong film Dream Home (2010). Finally, the chapter concludes by considering the representation of serial killing in post-2000 biopics and true crime narratives.